Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Read
Review: This is a complicated interweave of stories which all end up relating at the end - which seems a bit contrived, but kept my interest. THe writing style is excellent, and the imagery of the characters and their relation to nature is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Preachy...in a good way
Review: Prodigal Summer was my introduction to Barbara Kingsolver and I've come away impressed. In any fiction I believe a story lives and dies on its characterization. Vivid, engaging characters are the soul of a well-written story. You don't have to like them, just feel like they are real. It's not an easy task as evidenced by any given best-seller list, but Kingsolver has nailed it here. The plot isn't particularly twisted, and the revelations at the end are somewhat predictable, but the novel is entirely about the growth of its characters, so a complicated plot would be a distraction.People say this is a preachy book, and in honesty it is. There is a message about environmental conservation that is somewhat aggressively shoved down your thoat. It is worked into the story well, but is such a dominant theme it stands out. I am a conservationist and agree whole-heartedly with the message, but I imagine someone not sharing my views would be more bothered and possibly distracted by it. It loses a star for that transgression. Otherwise I feel like I could walk into Zebulon Valley and recognize the farms, the hemlocks, and the people. And several months after reading the book, the characters still pop into my head from time to time. That is the mark of excellent writing.
Rating:
Summary: A Green Gem
Review: The luxuriant green leaves on the book cover were what attracted me to buy the book. However the first chapter almost turned me off. After a hiatus, I continued from Chapter 2. From then on it was a page-turner. The book set in Tennesee on the edge of the Appalachians, revolves around three protagonists, Deana, a middle-aged forest ranger, a widowed biologist turned farmer called Lusa, and a retired old widow, Garnett, who tried to revive the American Chestnut tree. What makes this book additive, after the first chapter, is its seductive prose, beautiful metaphors and gems of wisdom such as "Arguments could fill a marriage like water, running through everything, always, with no taste or color but lots of noise." It is also highly informative on ecology, in particular the moths, the coyotes and the once mighty American Chestnut Trees. The three stories which went on independently gradually entwine as the three main protagonists discover or reach out for each other. The human relationship revolving around Lusa and her relatives, and between Garnett and his neighbor were initially icy cold but warm up to a happy almost syrupy ending towards the end. It was the casual relationship of convenience between Deana, the first protagonist who appeared in Chapter 1, and the out-of-nowhere hunter-stud who simply disappeared at the end, that was a turn off. The book may appear too preachy about environmentalism. But it is not the author's job to present the counter-arguments.
Rating:
Summary: A book for even the most passive nature lover
Review: This is my third book from Ms. Kingsolver. I loved the Poisonwood Bible, was unimpressed with the Bean Trees and wowed all over again with Prodigal Summer. This book makes me want to lay in the grass (if I can find any) and sniff the stalks and count the bugs. This book makes me wish that I too could identify different birds by their calls. And I wish that her characters were real so they could be my friends too.
Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful accomplishment.
Review: To all the praise that has already been given to this remarkable book, I can only add a profoundly heartfelt "Thank you!" to Barbara Kingsolver. As a Unitarian Universalist, I especially appreciate the character of Nanny Rawley, but the entire novel was a delightful experience for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Poisonwood was a tough act to follow......
Review: Kingslover became a favorite contemporary author after reading, and endlessly recommending the Poisonwood Bible, so I began the Prodigal Summer with very high expectations. Prodigal is chock full of great facts and insight that would make any reader more aware of the world's fragile ecological system, as well as the interdependencies of all earth's species, great and small. For me, raising that level of awareness was worth the price of admission, yet it wouldn't push me to ardently recommend this to other readers. Kingslover possesses the wonderful ability to create a very human quality to her characters, who slowly or quickly, warm themselves up to you. The characters of this book were no exception but unfortunately the story seemed weighed down by meaningless detail which took away from the development of the each character's story. Finally, the storyline ended so abruptly, with each character finding peace and direction in a world that didn't change around them. It felt like the last chapter was written as the author was running out of the door. I thought the characters final sense of resolution and focus didn't address a crucial theme of the story, fragility and extinction. Overall, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading Barbara Kingslover, treat yourself to the Poisonwood Bible, and if you have, go into this book knowing that Poisonwood is certainly a tough act to follow.
anywhere
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, excellent!!
Review: My favorite Kingsolver novel!!! It really made me think of our environment and how we are involved in the circle of life...also what we can do to keep from destroying ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: Natural, startlingly human - worth reading again and again.
Review: Barbara Kingsolver's novel Prodigal Summer is undoubtedly one of the best books that I have ever read. I could hardly put it down - through Christmas Eve and Christmas day I fell hopelessly into the world she created there in the Appalachain mountains, in the woods, on the farms - the intricate and all too real human relations and inner reflections of her well rounded, surprisingly developed, fleshy characters - each with a soft, endearing quality of his or her own that makes the reader feel comfortably familiar with their thoughts and presence. The conflict between human and nature, and the conflict within oneself - that of solitude versus company, society versus wilderness. A book about change, environmental consciousness and learning to accept hardship and to do what you can with what you have, forging a path through life that is never clear yet always ripe with opportunities to recreate oneself, to start something new. This would not be a book for everyone, I am sure - this I can see from some of the other reviews... but as a vegetarian, caring for the environment and its fine balance and being afraid that so much of what I love in the world, our natural surroundings, will be lost - as a world traveler, having been through many of the things that she describes in this book, academically, emotionally, indescribably - though in a different setting - I can't help but want to recommend this book to everyone that I know! I would love to have an opportunity to talk with the author, I would ask a million questions - I have a great respect for her, am really amazed at her work. I am very picky about my books and a writer myself - and have a great respect for Kingsolver's talent for dialogue and description of setting, as well as the abundance of scientific information in the book regarding plant and animal species and each one's individual place in the ecosystem. Writing a book is not easy, as anyone will know - and this is a book that not only beautifully weaves its story into itself and its surroundings, but serves to bring up and address (from both sides) important issues of how we treat the world in which we live and the profound effect that each human being has on his or her surroundings, even in the smallest sense - even by stepping one foot into the forest, or how we kill a few weeds in our lawn. One of the things that I love most about this book is its graceful avoidance of overbearing preachiness and cheesy clichee love scenes - there is none of this in this novel, anywhere. I love the simplicity and subtlety of its message - yet at same time its wonderful feminine, earthy strength, seemingly woven into the hills and woods that serve as setting for this beautifully written story about the dance of the trees, the wind, tears, rain and new life. Incredible.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly honest
Review: I found this book absorbing and informative. It is gently hopeful and unapologetically honest in its treatment of ecological issues and its character's predilections. Being the first of Kingsolver's that I have read, I am suprised to find so many negative reviews of it - primarily by people who have read other books by BK. It is, after all, a work of fiction - why do so many reviewers demand 'correct' information?? If Ms Kingsolver was writing non-fiction, I would agree with those of you who insist on pointing out where her 'facts' are off-beam, but can't you allow some poetic licence to a woman who can expertly weave a shimmering tapestry of the conflicting prejudices of a small town's inhabitants? She is clearly familiar with the workings of the minds of her pro- and antagonists, portraying them with compassion and honesty, although I wonder if this can be appreciated by those of us who aren't senstitive to our own taken-for-granted assumptions about our own values and beliefs... I don't think this book is 'preachy' at all, it's just straightforward - perhaps the more bitter reviewers would prefer some subtle brainwashing so that they don't notice if any wool is being pulled over their eyes? Quite frankly, I'd rather know where the writer is coming from so that I can easily determine whether to read on or not. Being deceptively coerced into believing someone else's opinion doesn't appeal to me, so I respect Ms Kingsolver for her openness in referring to ecological issues - especially for her exquisite ability to interweave ecology with human behaviour. Many of us see ecology as being 'out there' rather than in our own backyards, not just physically but also in our own minds and behaviour. Prodigal Summer succeeds in making the connections between the inside and the outside and it is this that makes it such a work of art. Regarding the comments about the 'trashy' nature of the sex etc., I didn't see these that way at all, instead I saw the portrayal of Deanna and Eddie as a particularly sensitive insight into the workings of a woman's mind when she attempts to balance the pull of her own sexual nature with her ideological and philosophical convictions. This is a dilemma for many women, and reading this was comforting - it affirmed for me that I am not the only one who has experienced such division. If you have read other BK novels, I would advise you to add some openness to your attitude when you read this book - it's not EXACTLY like the rest, it seems. If you are seeking a replica of her previous works you might be disappointed. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of reading a book? Of our favourite authors' works, some we like more than others, but that doesn't mean that we should abandon them altogether just because a particular work didn't appeal to our particular tastes. If BK's work didn't grow and change with the passing of time, she'd really have something to worry about. As for me, I'm tempted not to read anything else she's written because it may not measure up to this one, particularly in view of the some of the negative reviews I've read here that constantly COMPARE it to her other works. It's all a matter of opinion, and opinion is very dependent on the perspective of its originator, so if you want an absorbing read and you're not afraid of someone who speaks out about their belief in life, ecology, human fallibility, hope and love - then read Prodigal Summer and you will be really moved by its beautiful language, gentle interweaving of characters and positive message for change in the world.
Rating: 
Summary: not what I expected
Review: The book was slow, the stories did not meld together, and for a book about naturalists, I found no new or interesting information. Although the people had professions in the field the information provides was boring.
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